Hand-held double-acting nerve reflex massager



c. F. ATWELL 3,363,623

HAND-HELD DOUBLE-ACTING NERVE REFLEX MASSAGER Jan. 16, 1968 Filed July 28, 1965 INVENTOR CHARLES 1-: ATWELL BY 6W g ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,363,623 HAND-HELD DOUBLE-ACTING NERVE REFLEX MASSAGER Charles F. Atwell, 5016 Yorkshire Road, Detroit, Mich. 48224 Filed July 28, 1965, Ser. No. 475,345 8 Claims. (Cl. 12836) This invention relates to therapeutic massagers and, in particular, to nerve reflex massagers for massaging, agitating and stimulating nerve endings in the human body.

One object of this invention is to provide a hand-held double-acting nerve reflex massagcr having a casing with an applicator nose and a motor within the casing having a rotary shaft with oppositely-directed flyweights on opposite ends of the rotary motor shaft effective simultaneously to pull the opposite ends of the casing to and fro in opposite directions so as to impart a double-acting oscillating effect to the applicator nose applied to the body.

Another object is to provide a hand-held double-acting nerve reflex massager of the foregoing character wherein the oppositely-directed flyweights simultaneously generate laterally-directed forces amplifying the vibratory effect on the applicator nose by oscillating simultaneously in opposite directions around an axis located intermediate the two oppositely-directed flyweights.

Another object is to provide a hand-held double-acting nerve reflex massager of the foregoing character wherein the applicator nose is integral with the part of the casing containing the motor, this one-piece construction transmitting the oscillations from the flyweights to the applicator nose without lost motion occurring therebetween and without the danger of separation of separate parts brought about by the excessive oscillation of the oppositely-acting double flyweights.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be come apparent during the course of the following description of the accompanying drawing, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a longitudinal section through the casing of a hand-held double-acting nerve reflex massager, according to one form of the invention, with the driving motor and associated parts thereof in side elevation, and with a portion of the electric cable between the rheostat and the motor indicated by dotted lines as omitted;

FIGURE 2 is a cross-section taken along the line 2-2 in FIGURE 1, showing the rearward fl yweight; and

FIGURE 3 is a cross-section taken along the line 33 in FIGURE 1, showing the forward flyweight.

Referring to the drawing in detail, FIGURE 1 shows a hand-held double-acting nerve reflex massager, generally designated 10, as consisting generally of a hollow substantially rigid casing 12 containing a double-acting motor-driven massager device 14 for imparting oscillations to an applicator nose 16 in response to the frequency determined by the speed of the rotary electric driving motor 18 as determined by the adjustment of a rheostat 20 connected to the motor 18 by a delivery conductor cable 22. The casing 12 consists of a cup-shaped or domeshaped rearward half or cap 24 abutting a forward cylindrical casing half portion 26 with a forward end Wall 28 leading to the reduced-diameter intermediate cylindrical portion 30 of the applicator nose 16 which terminates in a tapered forward side wall portion 32 with a rounded contact tip 34.

The driving motor 18 of the double-acting massager 14 is of generally conventional design and its internal details are beyond the scope of the present invention. The motor 18 is provided with a housing 36 having near one end an annular enlargement or ring 38 applied thereto and frictionally receiving and holding the rearward end cap 24 3,363,623 Patented Jan. 16, 1968 of the casing 12. Immediately adjacent the annular enlargement 38, the motor 18 is provided with an annular band 40 of elastic deformable material, such as natural or synthetic rubber or resilient synthetic plastic, which receives and frictionally holds the forward cylindrical casing portion 26 of the casing 12 in end-to-end abutting relationship with the end cap 24. The forward casing portion 26 is drilled and insulated at 42 for the passage of the conductor cable 22 from the rheostat 20 through the motor casing 36 into the interior of the motor 18. The rheostat 20 is of conventional construction with an adjusting knob 44 registering on a graduated dial 46 and receiving electric current through a supply conductor cable 48 from a conventional plug 50, the prongs of which are inserted into a conventional wall outlet.

The motor 18 drives a rotary shaft 52 which projects from the opposite ends of the motor casing 36 and is provided at its forward and rearward ends with flattened portions 54 and 56 which receive the correspondinglydrilled holes 58 in the inner ends of arms 60 of eccentric forward and rearward flyweights 62 and 64 respectively drilled and threaded at their inner ends to receive set screws 66 and terminating at their outer ends in segmental weights 68. From FIGURES 2 and 3 it will be seen that the flyweights 62 and 64 are disposed in opposite directions degrees apart and that the axes of the arms lie in a common plane and are parallel to one another and perpendicular to the axis of the shaft 52. The motor 18 contains the usual fan (not shown) mounted on the rotary shaft 52 and adapted to circulate cooling air through the perforated ends (not shown) of the motor housing 36, and thence through holes 70 and 72 in the forward and rearward portions 26 and. 24 respectively of the casing 12.

In the operation of the double-acting nerve reflex massager 10, the operator holds the casing 12 in one hand and adjusts the speed of the motor 18 to give the desired frequency of oscillation, such as, for example, from a normal motor speed of 1750 r.p.m. to about 200 rpm. This he does by adjusting the knob 44 of the rheostat 20 which is receiving current through the supply cable 48 from the plug 50 and transmitting it through the delivery cable 22 to the motor 18. As the motor shaft 52, rotates, the oppositely-directed forward and rearward flyweights 62 and 64 simultaneously apply pulls in opposite directions to the shaft 52, these pulls being transmitted through the annular members 38 and 40 to the forward casing portion 26 and the end to the contact tip 34 of the applicator nose 16 which is held in contact with the portion of the body within which it is desired to massage and stimulate the terminal nerve endings. Such treatment is frequently made on the nerve endings of the feet. The frequency with which the tip 34 is rapidly oscillated in opposite directions is dependent upon the speed at which the motor 18 is rotating the shaft 52 but the lateral force applied to oscillate the contact tip 34 is greatly increased as well as stabilized by the oppositely-disposed forward and rearward flyweights 62 and 64 around the axis of oscillation located approximately at the point 74 which is roughly halfway between them. Meanwhile, cooling air is circulated through the casing holes 70 and 7.2 by the fan on the motor shaft 52 within the motor housing 36 so as to maintain the casing 12 in a reasonably cool condition.

What I claim is:

1. A hand-held double-acting nerve reflex massager, comprising an elongated hollow substantially rigid casing having an applicator nose projecting forwardly therefrom,

an electric motor disposed within said casing in oscillation-impartin g relationship thereto,

said motor having a motor housing and a rotary motor shaft disposed substantially coaxial with J said casing with its forward and rearward ends projecting forwardly and rearwardly beyond the forward and rearward ends respectively of said motor housing,

and forward and rearward oscillation-generating flyweights mounted on said forward and rearward motor shaft ends in eccentric relationship thereto and projecting laterally in opposite directions therefrom.

2. A hand-held double-acting nerve reflex massager, according to claim 1, wherein each of said flyweights has an arm with its inner end secured to its respective shaft end and a weight element secured to the outer end of said arm.

3. A hand-held double-acting nerve reflex massager, according to claim 2, wherein said weight element is of approximately segmental shape.

4. A hand-held double-acting nerve reflex massager, according to claim 2, wherein said arms are mounted with their axes lying in a substantially common plane but 20 disposed in said opposite directions.

5. A handheld double-acting nerve reflex massager, according to claim 4, wherein said axes of said arms are disposed substantially parallel to one another.

6. A hand-held double-acting nerve reflex massager,

4- according to claim 5, wherein said axes of said arms are also disposed substantially perpendicular to the axis of said motor shaft.

7. A hand-held double-acting nerve reflex massager, according to claim 1, wherein said casing includes forward and rearward casing halves and wherein said forward casing half has a reduced diameter portion projecting forwardly therefrom, said nose being disposed on the forward end of said reduced diameter portion.

8. A hand-held double-acting nerve reflex massage-r, accord'ng to claim 7, wherein said nose has a contact tip and a tapered side wall portion projecting forwardly from the forward end of said reduced diameter portion to said contact tip.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,674,994 4/1954 Murphy "128-36 2,833,277 5/1958 Kline 128-35 3,096,757 7/1963 Berard 128-36 FOREIGN PATENTS 434 1907 Great Britain.

LAWRENCE W. TRAPP, Primary Examiner. 

1. A HAND-HELD DOUBLE-ACTING NERVE REFLEX MASSAGER, COMPRISING AN ELONGATED HOLLOW SUBSTANTIALLY RIGID CASING HAVING AN APPLICATOR NOSE PROJECTING FORWARDLY THEREFROM, AN ELECTRIC MOTOR DISPOSED WITHIN SAID CASING IN OSCILLATION-IMPARTING RELATIONSHIP THERETO, SAID MOTOR HAVING A MOTOR HOUSING AND A ROTARY MOTOR SHAFT DISPOSED SUBSTANTIALLY COAXIAL WITH SAID CASING WITH ITS FORWARD AND REARWARD ENDS PROJECTING FORWARDLY AND REARWARDLY BEYOND THE FORWARD AND REARWARD ENDS RESPECTIVELY OF SAID MOTOR HOUSING, AND FORWARD AND REARWARD OSCILLATION-GENERATING FLYWEIGHTS MOUNTED ON SAID FORWARD AND REARWARD MOTOR SHAFT ENDS IN ECCENTRIC RELATIONSHIP THERETO AND PROJECTING LATERALLY IN OPPOSITE DIRECTIONS THEREFROM. 